The Weekly Reload Podcast

This week, I'm joined by gun lawyer John Monroe to discuss Kyle Rittenhouse successfully claiming self-defense during his murder trial. Monroe practices gun law in Wisconsin. He has argued similar cases in the past and is even appearing before the state's supreme court soon. His experience gives him specialized insight into the case against Rittenhouse and why the jury came down on his side. We discuss the details of Wisconsin's self-defense laws. Monroe says the case hinged on reasonableness. Specifically, whether Rittenhouse reasonably feared for his life and whether the force he used in response was reasonable. Monroe gives an in-depth explanation for how the video evidence in the case helped Rittenhouse convince the jury his actions were reasonable in the moment. And he discusses some of the erroneous claims made by the prosecution. He details why Rittenhouse carrying a gun did not mean he forfeited his right to claim self-defense and why he wasn't required to use a lower level of force in the altercations. We also talk about the parallels and key differences between the Rittenhouse case in Wisconsin and the Ahmaud Arbery case in Georgia where Monroe also practices. While both cases involved a struggle over a gun, Rittenhouse only shot after being pursued and attacked while Arbery was shot after he was pursued and attacked. Monroe said Travis McMichael, who shot Arbery, is less likely to be successful in his self-defense claim.Special Guest: John Monroe.

Kenny Robertson of Wex Training Group joins me this week to talk about a new emergency medical training program aimed at concealed carriers. Robertson spent 22 years in the Army Green Berets as part of the 5th Special Forces Group. He served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syrian, and Lebanon as a medic. After that, he spent years training others to do the same thing as director of the Tactical Casualty Combat Care and Prolonged Field Care programs at the Joint Special Operations Medical Training Center in Fort Bragg, NC. Now, he's teamed up with Brandon Wexler and Charrie Derosa of Wex Gunworks in Delray Beach, Florida to bring that same level of training to the civilian world. The high-profile gun shop, which has been featured everywhere from NBC News to The Washington Post to The Washington Free Beacon, hopes to bring that same caliber of training to those who carry guns. Robertson was nice enough to give me a demo of the class recently. I was lucky enough to go through a Stop the Bleed course when I trained with FASTER Colorado a few years ago. The principles in the Wex class are much the same, but the experience is elevated. For one, it's much more visceral. More realistic. Ultimately, more impactful. Lots of training courses have training tourniquets and CPR dummies. Wex takes that to the next level by adding detailed training dummies, including ones that actually bleed. It's far more memorable to try and apply a tourniquet high and tight when blood is literally spurting out onto your hands. When the skin feels natural and the flesh compresses like the real thing, it hits differently in your mind. The added feedback of actually witnessing the bleeding stop instead of just imagining it is game-changing. On top of that, Robertson's real-life stories of how he has applied these techniques to save lives in the field make it all that much more memorable. It's the kind of training I'm convinced people who concealed carry should invest in. After all, we spend thousands to carry a gun in the unlikely case we'll be in a deadly force incident. Well, if you're preparing for what might happen in a shootout, you should probably prepare for what you'll do if you or somebody else actually gets shot. All the same principles apply here. You can't count on a medic getting to you before you bleed out. So, you better learn to help yourself. Besides, you're more likely to run into some sort of medical emergency in your daily life than you are to run into a deadly force attack. Better to be prepared than sorry.Special Guest: Kenny Robertson.

On this episode, investigative reporter Tim Mak joins me to talk about his new book Misfire: Inside the Downfall of the NRA. I first met Tim at the 2019 NRA annual meeting where he was one of the only other reporters in the room when dissident members tried to oust CEO Wayne LaPierre over allegations of corruption. He has been at the forefront of covering the NRA for the last several years and produced some of the most impactful stories about the gun-rights group. That includes breaking the news that a Russian spy had infiltrated the group as part of an influence campaign run by a top Kremlin official. His new book is the first I've seen to thoroughly chronicle how it is the NRA has ended up at disaster's doorstep and who the key players along the way were. He takes one of the first real looks at the people behind the powerhouse from Wayne LaPierre to his wife Susan to former president Oliver North. He explains not just what decisions they made but how their characters led them to make those decisions. His book matches much of what I've heard for years from inside the organization as well as the testimony given in court I've witnessed over the past several years. It is a detailed and well-sourced book that also brings a host of new information to the fold. From now on, when somebody asks me what happened to the NRA, I'll tell them to read this book. Plus, Jake Fogleman and I discuss Republicans flipping Virginia red and SCOTUS hearing oral arguments in its big gun-carry case.Special Guest: Tim Mak.

On this episode of the podcast, I interview movie armorer and stunt coordinator Steve Wolf about the disastrous shooting on the set of Alec Baldwin's latest film. Wolf has worked on a number of major tv and movie sets with some of the top actors and directors in the business. He knows exactly what the proper safety protocols on set are when handling firearms. And he explains the many ways a properly-run production is set up to avoid firearms accidents. He said he always tries to minimize the use of real firearms and blank-firing props in order to reduce the potential for any life-threatening mistakes to occur. But, he emphasized that Alec Baldwin, the assistant director, and the armorer all had to be negligent in how they handled the firearm in question in order for something this tragic to occur. The armorer should have been able to keep live ammunition off set and never should have allowed a live round to find its way into the gun. The assistant director should have checked the gun to ensure it was not loaded with live ammunition before he handed it to Baldwin and told him it was "cold." Baldwin should have verified himself the gun was not loaded with live ammunition and should not have pointed it in the direction of the crew. Wolf brings his own prop gun and real revolver to show the clear differences between the two. He also shows the clear differences between live ammunition, dummy ammunition, and blanks. They're all differences he said can and should be taught to everyone on a set, especially those who are actually handling the guns. We discuss whether real guns should be used in movies going forward. These kinds of tragic accidents are rare. Do they justify a sweeping change to the way the industry works or was this purely a case of gross negligence that can't be adapted to the industry at large? Plus, contributing writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss Firearms Policy Coalition filing a Supreme Court brief against Texas's abortion law as well as David Chipman's claim that support for gun violence is what ultimately doomed his nomination to lead the ATF.Special Guest: Steve Wolf.

Cam Edwards of Bearing Arms joins the show this week as the Virginia elections enter their homestretch. He argues Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin has actually surged into the lead over Democrat Terry McAuliffe. We talk about how Dominion Energy's underhanded attempt to discourage gun owners has backfired and helped Youngkin close the gap. Cam and I both live in Virginia, though very different parts of the state, and have been targeted by the disingenuous ads that attack the Republican from the right on guns despite being created by a liberal consulting group. But, the shadowy effort to keep gun owners from voting also shows Youngkin may have miscalculated by keeping the gun-rights groups at arm's length. Should he have pursued the gun vote harder than he did? With the election so close, even though the issue hasn't been a top priority until late, the turnout of gun voters could well turn the election. Every little bit matters when you're in a race that comes down to just a few points. Dominion's meddling backfired on them, but will Youngkin's tightrope act backfire on him too? Or, will he motivate enough downstate gun owners to vote while bringing out Northern Virginia voters who an NRA endorsement may have turned off? Plus, we talk about how the 2019 McAuliffe comments I unearthed earlier this month could hurt his fellow Democrat Attorney General Mark Herring as he runs for re-election. And, contributing writer Jake Fogleman and I detail the big ruling from Pennsylvania's Supreme Court that could have a big impact on illegal local gun restrictions.Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

On this episode, contributing writer Jake Fogelman and I discuss the financial situation of the country's largest gun group. We recently obtained the NRA's 2020 annual report and compared it to previous ones to get a broad view of what the group's books look like. Despite years of operating in the red, recent internal turmoil over corruption allegations, and the pandemic, the group is back to running a surplus. A rather large one of about $54 million, in fact. But that came about as a result of massive spending cuts. As revenues fell by more than $78 million from 2018 to 2020, the NRA cut more than $124 million in spending over that time to keep pace. Political spending took a $50 million hit. Gun safety training was slashed in half. Then Mike Willever from the Active Self Protection podcast joined me to talk about the most incredible self-defense stories he's chronicled so far. He also provides insight from his 25-year-long law enforcement career and how those skills translate to the podcasting world. He also talks about the overheated and misleading nature of political and gun news.Special Guest: Mike Willever.

This week, I talk to The Atlantic's Adam Sewer about how guns and race interact in America both historically and in the modern-day. He talked about his recent back and forth with Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito over Texas's new abortion law. We disagreed over whether the same tactic of deferring enforcement to civil suits brought by regular citizens rather than government actors will be tried out by gun-control advocates in some parts of the country. He thinks it won't because activists fear review by the court, but I'm not so sure. From there, we discuss the court's upcoming gun-carry case and the racist history of various gun-permitting laws in America. He explains why a majority of Black Americans support gun-control measures despite a widespread acknowledgment those laws will be disproportionately used against members of their community. Then we talked about Beto O'Rourke's plans to run for governor in Adam's adopted home of Texas. We discuss the political practicality of Beto's famous pledge to take everyone's AR-15s and AK-47s.  We also discuss the rise in minority gun ownership and what it means for the future of gun politics in America. Plus, I give on-the-ground insight into the re-election of Wayne LaPierre to run the NRA. I was the only reporter sitting outside the board meeting where LaPierre faced his first challenge in years, and I give the details of what went down. And I share the latest gun sales numbers for 2021 now that they've passed 2019's full-year total.Special Guest: Adam Serwer.

This week, Chris Cheng of Top Shot fame joins me on the show. After winning the title back in 2012, Chris told me his life changed forever. He used to spend most of his time doing work for leading tech companies, including Google. He still works in the tech space, but much of his time is now dedicated to the gun space--especially gun activism. He's worked with some of the most prominent gun-rights groups, and he's even testified on Capitol Hill. Now he's an advisor to the Asian Pacific American Gun Owners Association (APAGOA). His work as an Asian-American gun-rights advocate has made him the target of gun-control groups. We talk about how the Violence Policy Center singled him out in its newest report decrying the growth in Asian-American gun ownership. We also talk about APAGOA helping train new gun owners in the Asian-American community, and it filed its first brief at the Supreme Court. Then we talk about Chris's foray into the intersection between NFTs and firearms. He explains what an NFT (non-fungible token) is and how it could impact the future of the gun industry. Pretty fascinating stuff. Plus, I give an update on the latest in the David Chipman saga. And I talk to a Reload member, who just became a gun owner for the first time recently, living in New Jersey. It's a great episode. Give it a listen!

On this episode, I talk with Wendy Hauffen of San Diego County Gun Owners. She provides insight into what it's like to run an effective gun-rights organization at the local level. She described how her group was able to persuade the sheriff to issue more concealed-carry permits. They were able to get him to change the policy even though a court challenge was unable to change the state's law. We also talked about how the group has been able to bring women into the gun-owning community. She said the #NotMe program they run has already helped train 500 women and Hauffen said it is continuing to grow. I also talk with contributing writer Jake Fogelman about the NRA's upcoming oversight meetings, and why it distanced itself from CEO Wayne LaPierre in court filings this week. Plus, Jake tells us about how California is now set to share the personal information of gun owners with researchers across the country.Special Guest: Wendy Hauffen.

This week, I spoke with National Review's Senior Political Correspondent Jim Geraghty. As you might gather from his title, Jim has a lot of experience in covering and analyzing politics. He's also spent a good amount of time covering gun politics and, in particular, the National Rifle Association. That's why I wanted to have him on to discuss the failure of President Joe Biden's ATF Director nomination. Jim also provides some key insight into what will likely come next in President Biden's efforts to install a director as well as his pursuit of new gun-control measures. Jim also gave us his take on what's going on with the NRA and where the corruption charges levied against it in New York are headed. Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogelman and I talk about the latest estimates on how many new gun owners have been created this year and what that means for the long-term future of guns in America. And we discuss the last two installments of my exclusive, in-depth interview with gun activist Rob Pincus.Special Guest: Jim Geraghty.